And the winner is...

Sorry- if you're looking for a giveaway, this is NOT that blog. This post makes me SO happy for my wonderful hubby, Coach Clark. He came home Saturday night (really early Sunday morning) with this trophy- one his team won at the State Track Meet this past weekend. The Boys got Division III Runners Up (lost by 1 point) and the Girls won State! For more pictures and information, go to his track blog at higleytrack.blogspot.com GO KNIGHTS!!!

My Baby turns 1!

Halli on her actual birthday

Pigtails- a new, wild look for the girl.

These sisters love each other- or so the picture says!

I can't believe my baby is already one! Where oh where did the time go? Halli, also known by me as "monkey" and has her daddy completely smitten! is now a year old! Her birthday landed on Easter this year so we celebrated with Cauley's parents and the Greers who came over for dinner and cupcakes. (I do have pics of that, but I'll save you the time by just saying that they are just as cute as the rest of all these pictures.) For her birthday Halli got new sippy cups (she's completely weaned from nursing AND the bottle!), a ball that she adores, bath toys, some money from Grandpa Clark and Grandma Kathy, and a cute onesie and sundress from the Greers. She also got a stuffed frog which her siblings named "Hoppy" (for Happy Easter/Birthday) from her Grandma and Grandpa Ruth which she absolutely LOVES and snuggles often. She was one spoiled little girl!

Halli is such a mamma's girl, unless her daddy is around- then she ONLY wants her daddy! She's a bit different from the rest and wants to be held at all times. (Not always so easy for a RS president to do!) Halli has all but 2 of her teeth, but she's working on them. She loves balls just like her big brother Dallin did. She loves to make animal sounds and the duck is her favorite. She loves to eat just about everything except rice, and LOVES to drink milk. Halli doesn't have near as much hair as Tyli did at this age and it is SUPER thin and blond. (who knows where that came from- we don't do thin hair in our family- it's all or nothing for us!)

One unique thing about Halli is that she still doesn't roll over, crawl, pull up, or walk. At 4 months old, we were sent to the Children's hospital for an ultrasound on her hips looking for a dislocation, but all was found ok. Then we were sent for x-rays and that showed that her hips are formed correctly. Now we know that she has very loose hip sockets, allowing her hips to dislocate easily, but mostly at her will. Weird- I know. We figured this out as whenever we'd put her on her knees to try and crawl, her hips would fall to the sides and she's sit there on her pelvic bone with her hips in a weird position. Also, it does this whenever she tries pulling up. Basically, her feet are under her body, feet together, toes on the floor, and knees on the floor. Halli also does this thing when she is tired where she'll put both hands on her left leg while sitting upright and move her right hip in and out of socket, just going in a circular motion. When she does this, you can see a pained expression on her face. She DOES, however, get around the house at will by scooting on her bottom! What is funny about this is that she puts one leg out, other in like she's stretching her hamstrings, and scoots, then switches legs and scoots and so forth. (Left, right, left, right, etc.)

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this little girl so much and am so happy she is a part of our family. She definitely brings character to our home and is loved by all of us here.

1 Year stats

Height: 32 inches tall

Weight: 19 lbs 4oz

Cuteness: ADORABLE!!!

I guess it's our new favorite pasttime?

Don't let your eyes fool you- McKade is squatting down. BUT Tyli is pretty tall! (McKade had come home from Father and Sons missing the screw that holds his lenses in, so no glasses for him for the hike!)

I carried Halli and all of our water about 3/4 of the way due to Tyli wearing shoes that were too small and Cauley having to give her a shoulder ride.

Where we stopped for water.

like father like son!

Did something die in the path? Nope. It's just McKade literally playing possum! (too much Jeff Corwin for him!)

One thing we really like to do as a family is to hike. We have a great excuse to do right now too as Cauley and I have been called to be Ma's and Pa's by the stake for the Youth Treck coming up next month. We borrowed a baby pack, and loaded up the troops to hike the San Tan Foothills. This hike is SUPER EASY and perfect for little kids. (my kids prefer a bit more of a challenge though, but they still had fun.) We only did about a 3 mile hike but it was a good time nonetheless. I just can't wait until the kids will carry their own water!

Our Digorno Houseparty!

All of the loot that we got sent to us for our party! What you can't see is the coupons for the FREE Digorno pizzas I was sent to feed our guests at the party along with coupons for $4 off a Digorno pizza that we gave to our guests!



Some of the partiers!  (This may be the only shot I have of anyone even eating the main event- PIZZA!) Check out my mini basketball sugar cookies I made.



Tye Christopher was a very tired little guy.

and so was Bryce! Oh wait a second- I DO have another shot of the pizza being eaten! Way to go Brad!

Taylor just had a great time riding the zebra.

If you haven't yet signed up for Houseparty.com, DO SO NOW!!! This was the 2nd party I have hosted for them and it is AMAZING! It is free to sign up, and mostly free to throw a party. (You just provide all filler stuff like extra food and drinks and any decorations or anything else you want to add to your party.) Anyways, once you register, you basically fill out applications to become hosts for the parties that you would be interested in throwing. They'll email you if you are chosen to be a host, and then they send you lots of cool, FREE stuff! My first party I was chosen to host was the Just Dance 2 party and I also received Just Dance for Kids as well in my host package. Basically I had people over for lots of fun and a little yummy food- all for FREE! This time around, I was chosen for the Digorno Hoops Party. (That's how behind I am- this party was in March during March Madness.)

As a host, I received a over-the-door hoop and ball, FREE pizza coupons, plates, hand wipes, a kitchen timer shaped like a basketball, refrigerator magnet, basketball shaped hot pad, pizza cutter, spatula, LOTS of LOUD blow-up noisemakers (which all of the kids quickly turned into swords out in the backyard!), and a tournament sheet thing that we didn't use. We also had chips, pretzels, cookies, wings, bread sticks, and PIZZA! Thanks to everyone who came and partied the night away with us! Now GO and sign up for Houseparty.com! (they have their Ball canning one coming up real soon, and if I'm not chosen as a host, PLEASE invite me if you are!)

My reward

Today is Mother's Day. I don't like Mother's Day. In fact, I really DISlike Mother's Day. I love the quote a friend gave at church today- in her own words she said, "I was once a perfect mother- for about 2 seconds until my first child was born." It's true. That's how I feel every day of my life. I especially dislike going to church on Mother's Day and hearing how perfect every other mother in the world is/has been. (Especially since I just yelled at one of my kids for not having shoes on as we walk out the door after they've just spent the past 5 minutes fighting or throwing a tantrum, or that one of my children usually has their lunch down the front of their church clothes even though they didn't even have their church clothes on when they ate the said lunch, or my daughter's hair, which looked absolutely ADORABLE a few minutes ago now has been taken out and redone to HER specifications, and so on.) Anyways, this Mother's Day was that way. I was happy to head out of the chapel during the prelude for the Sacrament hymn with Halli in arms to find Tyli who was MIA/in the bathroom since BEFORE the meeting even began. I was being overcome with my own doubts and bad feelings about me as a mother. As I stood in the foyer with both girls, these doubts and feelings became overpowering. A reminder of the squirming 1 year old in my arms who doesn't roll over still, doesn't crawl, doesn't pull up or cruise made me feel like I was doing everything in life wrong as a mother. However, right after I leaned forward and whispered for Tyli to fold her arms for the Sacrament prayer which was to be said, I caught a glimpse of this little baby who is delayed- arms folded, head bowed, and a sweet smile on her face. It was then that I KNEW. It was then that I received my best Mother's Day gift ever. My doubts about being a good enough mom flew away as I received confirmation that, although I am not a perfect mommy, I am doing my best, and more importantly, I doing what is expected of me by teaching my children the gospel, sharing with them it's truths. Teaching them things that they need to know and do in this life so we can be together forever. I hope I don't forget this lesson, and I pray I may have more Mother's Day rewards like today.